Harry Potter and the Orb of Power

Chapter 17: Arabella Figg

    The trio sat at breakfast, eagerly awaiting the mail and going over their class schedule for the day.

    "Exciting day," Ron said sarcastically, drinking a bit of orange juice. "Double Divination. I can't wait to see that old bat's face again."

    "Great. We got Defense Against the Dark Arts too," Harry said, eating some scrambled eggs. "We still don't even know who the new professor is."

    "Did you ask Fred or George?" Ron responded, looking up at the ceiling, awaiting the mail.

    "Nope. Where are they this morning?" Harry looked down the Gryffindor Table, and didn't see the twins.

    "They're still making order forms," an answer came from Harry's side. Ginny sat down next to him, followed closely by Hermione.

    "What's up guys?" Hermione asked brightly.

    "Reflecting on our exciting school schedule," Ron said gloomily.

    "Well, at least we have Defense Against the Dark Arts. Meeting our new professor should be exciting," Hermione said, munching on a cinnamon roll.

    "Ginny, didn't you have Defense Against the Dark Arts yesterday?" Ron asked, still staring at the ceiling.

    "What are you waiting for?" Harry asked, looking at Ron, who was craning his neck up at the ceiling.

    "Mail," he said rather thickly.

    "Obviously. What exactly is coming in the mail?" Harry retorted.

    "Secret. I'll explain later," Ron said.

    "You were saying, Ginny," Hermione asked, looking at the two boys with an expression of disapproval.

    "Yes, I had that class yesterday," she said brightly.

    "And who was the teacher?" Hermione asked.

    "Um...I don't remember," she said, looking troubled.

    "It was yesterday!" Ron said incredulously.

    "What did you guys study?" Hermione continued, ignoring Ron's outburst.

    "I don't remember. But we learned loads of stuff," Ginny said eagerly, trying to help out with some information.

    "But you don't remember what you learned?" Hermione asked, giving Harry a puzzled look.

    "No. I just remember that I had the class, we learned a lot of things, and that's it," she said.

    "Maybe you should go to the hospital wing," Harry said worriedly.

    "I think I should too," Ginny said. She picked up her school bag and then ran off to the hospital wing.

    "That was odd," Harry said to Ron.

    "Short term memory loss. Tragic, really," Ron said dramatically.

    "Or Obliviated," Hermione said, catching Harry's eye.

    "Another crooked Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Maybe we should have a class that teaches us how to defend ourselves against them," Ron said. Owls began to pour into the Great Hall, indicating that mail had arrived.

    "Maybe we should go to Dumbledore?" Hermione proposed.

    "He's busy, and extremely tired. No need to lay unnecessary worries on him," Harry said. "Besides, it might be just Ginny. We'll ask Fred and George later. Defense Against the Dark Arts is after lunch, so we'll deal with it then."

*****

    "Welcome class, to another year of gazing into the future," Professor Trelawney said as the fifth years poured into the room. Harry felt the wave of heat hit him as he entered the room.

    "Great. She'll kill us of thirst," Ron said as he entered the room.

    "Sit down, class, and we'll begin in a few moments," Trelawney's voice floated through the haze. Harry and Ron sat down, and tried to bear another long and arduous Divinations class. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were sitting directly in front of Trelawney's winged chair, their eyes bugging with excitement. The two deeply admired the Divinations professor.

    "How was your summer, Professor?" Parvati inquired of their teacher.

    "It was well, as I foresaw. The school year, however, has been receiving my attention, for the shadow looms ever present over Hogwarts. I fear that terrible events will occur shortly."

    "The shadow, Professor?" Lavender inquired.

    "Duh, she's talking about death, again," Ron whispered dramatically to Harry, who snickered.

    "Death, my dear. It has its sights set on this very castle," Trelawney said, eyeing Harry.

    "This is old, and tired," Harry said sighing. "You'd think she'd come up with a different routine."

    "This year shall be a little different. After a very luminating session during the summer, I preordained that you will be studying the analysis of dreams, and how we can divine the future from their many intricacies and mysteries. As such, we will be learning the art of examining the echoes of the subconscious, and how they will allow us to gaze into the futures. First, we will attempt sessions in meditation, with various perfumes and relaxation techniques to help us get into a dreamlike state. Then we will study hypnosis, and for the last term, we will analyze dreams during your sleep."

    "Hoorah," Ron said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, I hope we don't have to take this course next year."

    "I'm sure we'll be able to fake our way through the year," Harry said dismissively, fanning himself from the heat coming off of the perfumed fire.

    "To help us during the year, I want you to use these." Trelawney opened a closet in the front of the room, revealing many small basins filled with a pink mist. They reminded Harry very much of Dumbledore's penseive, but not quite the same.    

    "These are much like penseives. Penseives record a person's thoughts for future analysis. These are somniscribes. They work a bit differently than penseives. Penseives are tools that only place thoughts the user chooses to place in. Somniscribes record the dreams of the user as he or she sleeps. Upon awakening, the user can review the dream as it was initially experienced, allowing the dreamer to witness the dream's secrets. You will use your textbooks to help analyze the dreams that stand out or feel important. Be careful. Repeated exposure to the dreams you have can be potentially dangerous. The subconscious and the conscious are not supposed to merge together. As such, I want you all to view your dreams once, record some notes, and then erase the dreams, so that you can review the meaning but not the visuals. Keep a journal of your thoughts, which will count as part of your grade." Professor Trelawney kept talking, while Harry caught Ron's eye.

    "Is it just me, or does she come up with the most ridiculous homework assignments possible?" Harry whispered.

    "It's just you," Ron said, rolling his eyes

    "Before we begin the dream analysis, we'll start with something light and easy," Professor Trelawney's voice carried on.

    "Nothing?" Ron proposed, but Trelawney ignored him.

    "Everyone, get a tea cup, we're reviewing tea leaves."

    "Oh great," Harry moaned. "More Grims and nasty tea. I'm sure we'll get loads of stuff."

*****

    "Divination was awful," Ron complained to Hermione, as they made their way to lunch. "She made us do tea leaves."

    "Again?" Hermione asked incredulously. "That is such a waste of time. A proper professor would be teaching newer material to get ready for the O.W.L.'s."

    "Not to mention tea leaves are boring," Harry said, sitting down at the Gryffindor table. Fred and George were leaned over a piece of parchment that Harry assumed was their Weasley's Wizard Wheezes order form.     

    "Reckon we should ask about the new teacher?" Harry proposed to the two of them.

    "Let me do it. They already think I'm a nosy git, might as well give them a reason to," Ron said grimly. He slid down and started talking to Fred and George.

    "How are you holding up, Harry?" Hermione asked, her voice filled with concern.

    "I'm fine," Harry said, not catching on to what Hermione was getting at.

    "Well, that's good to hear." A silence fell between them.

    "Are you worried about me?" Harry asked her. She kept her eyes from meeting his.

    "No, I'm just thinking, this year has already been eventful, and you've been extremely busy, what with being a prefect and Quidditch captain."

    "It's been ok so far. The work hasn't really settled in," Harry said, smiling. He tried to read Hermione's expression, but she wouldn't meet Harry's gaze. She was keeping something from him, and Harry wasn't sure how to feel about it. He felt himself getting nervous again, and when Hermione looked up, he saw how pretty her eyes were.

    "Loads of help, those two are," Ron said, clapping Harry on the back. Harry blinked, and looked at Ron.

    "No help?" he asked thickly, trying to remember what Ron was talking about.

    "Fred and George. They were pretty much like Ginny, no remembering except that they remembered 'loads'. Sounds dodgy to me, guys," Ron said, looking at the both of them seriously. "Another bad Dark Arts teacher. At least this time we know at the beginning of the year."

    "It doesn't sound right. What could the teacher be doing, if they're just Obliviating everyone?" Hermione asked.

    "Hermione's right, it doesn't add up," Harry agreed. "Seems kind of pointless."

    "Well, if they knew we didn't have Defense Against the Dark Arts today, they could have been Obliviating everyone until it was time we got there. Surprise tactics," Hermione proposed.

    "Good way to try to surprise Harry," Ron agreed, taking a nervous drink out of his goblet.

    "Well then they did a sloppy job. We'll be ready when we go in," Harry said firmly. "They're expecting us to just walk in, we'll go in, wands at the ready."

    "What's the plan?" Hermione whispered, leaning in. "Think one of us should go to get help?"

    "No, there's no reason for any teacher to believe us. Besides, who's to say this professor hasn't got the rest of the teachers hoodwinked?" Ron hissed back.

    "Still, we should at least try," Hermione maintained.

    "It would give us away, let whoever this is know that we're on to them. Surprise tactics," Harry said, his face set. Whoever this was, they were going down, hard. Harry was in no mood for these underhanded actions by this teacher. "If they're Obliviating everyone, they'll have to let us in one by one, to make sure we don't overpower them."

    "So what's our plan? If they're powerful enough to Obliviate all the students, why should we be any different?" Ron moaned.

    "Because we know what to expect," Hermione insisted. "There's a spell I know, it's rather difficult, but I think we can pull it off. It makes a copy of a person. They can't speak, or do magic, and it'll probably only last a few seconds."

    "Perfect. We can sneak in with the Invisibility Cloak, and surprise them," Harry said, grinning.

    "And if they manage to get a spell off at us?" Ron asked, still dubious to the plan.

    "The Shield Charm," Hermione responded. "We've had loads of practice with it already."

    "You have," Ron said glumly.

    "I'll get the cloak, I'll meet you outside the class," Harry said, getting up from the table and running to Gryffindor Tower.

*****

    Harry ran to Gryffindor Tower, hurriedly retrieving the Invisibility Cloak and returning to the hallway just outside the Defense classroom. Ron and Hermione were anxiously hovering around the doorway to the class. Gryffindor fifth years were already filing into the room.

    "Hurry, Harry, everyone's almost in," Ron hissed. Harry showed them the Invisibility Cloak while Seamus grinned, walking into the room.    

    "See you in there," Seamus said, entering the room.

    "You ready for this spell?" Harry asked Hermione.    

    "I think so. Who are we performing it on?"

    "Me. They want me, so they'll make their move when I walk in," Harry said. Hermione nodded, and waited for the rest of the fifth years to file in. Harry closed his eyes, bracing himself for the spell.

    "Imago!" Harry heard Hermione whisper. He felt a rush of wind blow by him. He opened his eyes.

    "Did it work?" Harry asked. Hermione pointed. Harry turned and saw himself standing right in front of him.

    "Bloody hell," Ron said grinning.

    "Hurry, push the copy inside!" Hermione hissed. Harry went behind the copy (which was flickering at random moments) and started to push. The copy was as light as a feather, feeling as if it was only made of paper. The copy walked in, and Hermione, Harry, and Ron followed directly behind it in the Invisibility Cloak. As they entered the class, they saw their fellow fifth years frozen in their seats. To Harry, it looked like they were Stunned, but their eyes were moving. The copy of Harry walked aimlessly into the heart of the room. Harry spotted the teacher standing behind the desk. The teacher was a witch, although Harry couldn't see her face, because she was partly hidden behind a cloud of fog.

    "Mr. Potter, please sit," the witch spoke to the copy.

    "Get ready," Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione. The two tensed to throw off the cloak, their wands at the ready.

    "Mr. Potter..." the witch started to say, but her voice trailed off. The copy flickered, and then disappeared.

    "Now!" Harry shouted. The three students threw off the cloak and pointed their wands towards the teacher. The witch, however, was more than ready.

    "Stupify!" the witch bellowed. A jet of red light burst out of her wand.

    "Defendo!" Ron and Hermione shouted. The Stunner hit the shield, forcing Ron and Hermione back a little bit, but held firm. Harry took his shot.

    "Stupefy!" Harry shouted, his Stunner glancing through the fog, but losing its potency. The fog, Harry realized, was just a cloudy box that absorbed magic. The Stunner rocketed off the foggy box's walls and then disappeared. The witch uttered an incantation Harry had never heard, and with a loud rushing sound the Shield Charm was drawn away from Ron and Hermione.

    "Expelliarmus!" Ron shouted, shooting a red light towards the teacher.

    "Reflecta!" the witch responded. A flash of blue hit the red light, and sent it back towards Ron, who was blasted back and lost his wand.

    "Reducto!" Hermione yelled, blasting the spell box away from the witch.

    "Petrificus Totalus!" Harry bellowed directly after, binding the teacher, who fell to the ground. Harry took a deep breath and looked at Hermione.

    "That was close," Hermione said, her voice rather jittery. Harry ran over to help Ron, who was staggering to his feet.

    "You all right?" Harry asked, helping Ron up.

    "Just dandy," Ron said, rubbing his head. "We got the wench?"

    "I think so," Hermione said, walking up to the desk. The teacher was in the Full Body Bind, and couldn't move.

    "Better help out the rest of the class," Harry said. Hermione pointed her wand at the rest of the class.

    "Finite Incantantem!" The class suddenly moved again.

    "That was awful!" Neville yelled, standing up. "Who was she?"

    "What happened?" Harry asked Seamus, who was rubbing his eyes.

    "I don't know. She told us to sit down, and when we did, we seized up."

    "Well we got her," Ron said, his voice filled with pride.

    "Hermione, Ron, over here. Point your wands at her, I'm going to undo the spell. We'll find out who she is," Harry said. He pulled her wand away and then backed up. "Finite Incantantem!" The witch shook, and then stood up. She looked old, maybe in her sixties, Harry thought, but she had a very commanding presence. She looked very strict, and, much like Dumbledore, she radiated a sense of power.

    "Who are you?" Harry asked.

    "Very good, Harry Potter, very good. And you too, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley. Very good indeed," the witch said. "I'm your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and my name is Arabella Figg. You can call me Mrs. Figg."

    "Mrs. Figg? Old cat-lady Mrs. Figg?" Harry asked incredulously. "You look nothing like her!" It was true enough. The old Mrs. Figg that Harry remembered was old and rather senile. This teacher looked composed, determined, and, while old, still filled with energy.

    "Of course not, Mr. Potter. I do enhance my look while living in the Muggle world. Yet I am one and the same. Do sit down, all of you. You won't 'seize up' again." The class reluctantly sat down, and to their surprise, they didn't seize up. Harry, Hermione, and Ron, however, refused to sit down.

    "Why did you attack us? And Obliviate the rest of the school?" Ron asked suspiciously.

    "I didn't Obliviate the whole school," Mrs. Figg chortled, as if Ron's question was entirely ludicrous. "Just a simple memory trick that makes a person forget about a class when asked about it, but later remembers everything. I had to do so, in order to properly test each of my classes. I can't lose the element of surprise."

    "So this was all a test?" Hermione asked.

    "Yes, Ms. Granger, a test. And I, sadly, can only say that you three were the only ones that read the signs concerning my identity and were suspicious. Very astute, twenty points to Gryffindor, to each student who acted as a wise and intelligent fifth year should."

    "Twenty?" Harry asked, wondering if Mrs. Figg's math was off.

    "Yes, Mr. Potter, twenty. Taking the curse off of me, while noble and enabling you to gather information, was rather stupid. I could have cursed you when I awoke, or killed you. Honorable, not smart," Mrs. Figg said, eyeing Harry, who looked shocked by his teacher's behavior. "Now you three, do sit down, so I can continue with my lesson." The three of them sat, while Harry pondered Mrs. Figg's test. Had he acted unreasonably? Harry didn't think so, but he decided not to argue. Harry looked around at the class, and spotted several cats prowling around. It seemed odd to Harry that Mrs. Figg would bring her cats to her classroom.

    "You, as fifth years, have entered into a very important year. You will all be worked very hard in this class, not only to prepare you for the O.W.L.'s, but to prepare you for the real world. As such, this year we will be studying the history of dark magic, and it's implications on the way the wizarding world works. Furthermore, you'll all be taking some dark detection workshops and dueling exercises, as you show a serious lack of skill. And, we'll be doing a small study on dark artifacts, and how to tell if an object you receive is affected by dark magic. I expect you all to do well, and to complete your work." Harry looked up at Mrs. Figg, and started to feel apprehension towards his new teacher. She was like a combination of Snape and McGonagall, and she made Harry nervous. After a few moments, the bell rang, and Mrs. Figg made her way quickly out of the room, her right leg dragging a little bit behind her. Harry suddenly recognized her, the mysterious quality about her. It took a little bit for Harry to piece it together, but as recognition dawned on him. She was the silent member of the Order that was at the prison of Azkaban, the one who Mr. Ollivander was discussing Sirius with. Harry watched the enigmatic woman leave the room, and realized quite clearly that there was more to Mrs. Figg than what he was told.